


Our Start Line

by froghyuka



Category: TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Best Friends, Friendship, Happy Fun Times, New Friends, OT5, OT5 Friendship, One Shot, Short Story, dragon - Freeform, hueningkai is best friends with a dragon, its cute and fun, ot5 txt, the boys have a weird day, txt au, txt ot5, txt should get a dragon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 21:27:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21895606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/froghyuka/pseuds/froghyuka
Summary: Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Kai have a dragon and a very weird day.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 43





	Our Start Line

“I bought a leash!” Kai yelled triumphantly as he ran to the boys, holding up a plastic bag. 

  
“How is that gonna help us?” Yeonjun demanded.

  
When Kai reached the three boys, he pulled something out of the bag and panted breathlessly, “I also got a collar.” 

  
In his hand was the largest dog collar Beomgyu, Taehyun, and Yeonjun had ever seen. It looked like it could fit around three regular-sized dog necks. 

  
“I’m still not sure what you’re planning to do with that,” Yeonjun continued.

  
“We’re gonna put it around its neck and lead it to where we want it to go,” Kai explained as if it was obvious.

  
“Uh guys, don’t you think we should go check on Soobin?” Taehyun said. “He’s been alone for a while now.”

  
Wordlessly, they rushed to the side alley four blocks away where they had told Soobin to wait. Kai got a stitch in his side from first running from the store and now to Soobin, but he still managed to keep up. Beomgyu was the fastest of them, reaching Soobin in an inhuman amount of time. 

  
When they reached him, Soobin was fuming. “Why did I have to be the one left alone with the dragon?” 

  
Sure enough, at Soobin’s feet, a large lump was sleeping peacefully. It was covered in dark green scales, and even though its wings were tucked under its body, their purple glint could still be seen. The beast had formed a weird attachment to Kai and must have sensed his presence as it lifted its head as the boys arrived.

  
“Because you’re the tallest, duh,” Kai said as he walked up to pat his friend on the head. “Hi, there, buddy! Soobin didn’t give you too much trouble, did he?” Kai talked to the dragon as if it were a baby. “I got this just for you!” He gently slipped the collar around the dragon’s neck and clipped the leash to it. The once-massive collar looked small on the dragon, and if its neck were any larger, it would not have fit. It stood up to its full height, which was just shorter than Kai. The dragon was the perfect size to rest its head on Kai’s shoulder, which it did happily, breathing out a sigh of contentment.

  
They were in a narrow alley, wedged between an old book store and a sandwich shop in the heart of New Orleans. The alley was removed from the street enough that they could stop here and rest for a moment before planning their next move. 

  
“So, does anyone want to tell us how you acquired a dragon?” Beomgyu crossed his arms and looked at Taehyun, Kai, and Soobin for answers. 

  
“It’s all Kai’s fault,” Taehyun said immediately.

  
“No, it’s not!”

  
“It literally is your fault,” Soobin confirmed.

  
Kai just sighed. “It’s kind of a long story.”

  
“We have time.” Yeonjun tried to pet the dragon, but it puffed out a breath of fire at the sight of Yeonjun’s approaching hand.

  
“It doesn’t really like people,” Kai explained. Yeonjun thought this was ridiculous as he was literally staring at it readjusting its spot on the boy’s shoulder. “Anyways, so it’s not really my fault. It’s Taehyun and Soobin’s fault for being so scary. I wanted to be their friend for years. They’ve been best friends for years, and I really wanted a friendship like theirs, so I worked hard to get them to like me.” His ears turned red as he recounted the time, and his eyes were cast down in embarrassment. “One day they invited me out to the zoo. I really wanted to impress them. And they seemed really cool. And I really like ostriches. So, I stole an ostrich egg.”

  
This shocked the two other boys, who had only met Kai that morning and thought he was small and shy despite his stature. Yeonjun looked him up and down. “Okay, just for clarification, you stole an ostrich egg? I have so many questions. How did you do it? What were you planning to do with it? And what does that have to do with a dragon?”

  
Kai shrugged. “It was actually kind of easy. The fence was short, I’m tall, and it wasn’t very busy, so I just jumped it. I grabbed the egg and ran. The ostriches were kind of mad at me but can you really blame them? And I didn’t think there was a real ostrich in it. I figured it was like an egg you buy at the store. But if there was an ostrich in it I was gonna raise it. Like I said, I really like ostriches. And, it worked because it totally made Soobin and Taehyun think I was cool. So it was worth it. Aside from the fact that it ended up being a dragon egg and not an ostrich egg.”

  
“Why was a dragon egg at the zoo? How did it get there?” Beomgyu asked.

  
“We still have no idea,” Taehyun answered. “All we know is that we used to not have a dragon and now we do have a dragon.”

  
“And why did we get dragged into this?” Beomgyu gestured to himself and Yeonjun.

  
“You were convenient,” Taehyun deadpanned. 

  
That morning, Yeonjun and Beomgyu were heading to their favorite coffee shop downtown. They did this every Sunday, and they would sit there for hours catching up on their school work. Or in the summers, just catching up. However, this Sunday, they never got the chance to open their school bags. They were a block away from the shop when three boys ran up to them in a fit of panic.

  
“We need your help!” The shortest one, Taehyun, as they later learned, panted. 

  
Beomgyu and Yeonjun, being the polite young men their mothers raised them to be, thank you very much, stopped to help them. Besides, aside from the whole running and panic thing, they looked kind of fun. 

  
“Do you know the city?” Soobin had asked. “We have to meet someone at The Crystal Ball today, can you help us find the way?”

  
“The Crystal Ball?” Yeonjun clarified, blinking the shock from his eyes.

  
“You know it?”

  
“Uh, yeah, kinda, but the thing is-”

  
“Great, come with us!” Taehyun grabbed Beomgyu’s wrist while Soobin took Yeonjun’s, and the three of them led Yeonjun and Beomgyu to an abandoned garage. Inside was evidence the boys had been staying here: blankets and pillows, empty cans littered around, and days’ worth of trash gathered in a neat pile. That, however, was not the most shocking sight as the two strangers got their first glimpse of the dragon and started to wonder if it was too late to go back.

  
“Sorry, we should have lead with this,” Kai said regretfully. He then went on to explain a bit of situation: they had acquired a dragon, and they needed to get rid of it because, of course, they did. They had contacted someone and been instructed to meet them at The Crystal Ball at midnight where they could give him the dragon. That was all Kai had time to explain before a noise shook the place. 

  
“Run,” Soobin instructed. And they did. Kai, however, had a difficult time corralling the dragon, which led him to an idea and a pet store. 

  
And that’s how they got here, in this alley with a picky dragon.

  
Out of nowhere, Kai said, “I think it needs a name.” 

  
“Why?” The other four responded in unison. 

  
“Well, we can’t keep calling it “It” the whole time! Plus, it’s my friend and friends need names.”

  
The other four did not seem convinced, but none of them were inclined to argue with the youngest, especially because he was so fond of the dragon.

  
“So, any suggestions?” Taehyun asked.

  
They all answered immediately.

  
“Soobin.”

  
“Yeonjun.”

  
“Beomgyu.”

  
“Taehyun.”

  
“Kai.”

  
“I can’t believe you all just suggested your names!” Yeonjun said.

  
“You did too!” Soobin retorted.

  
“Yes, but mine was actually a good suggestion.” 

  
They continued to toss around ideas for a solid ten minutes.

  
“Mint choco?”

  
“It tastes like toothpaste!”

  
“Fred?”

  
“For a dragon? That’s lame!”

  
“Larry?”

  
“Yeonjun, that’s even worse!”

  
“Draco? Like from Harry Potter but also like the Latin word for dragon?” Taehyun suggested in what was the first attempt to name the dragon something intelligent.

  
Kai stared intently at his dragon friend, trying to come up with the best name for it. Suddenly, the dragon stretched out its wings, like when Kai stretches his arms every morning after he wakes up. The light caught on the skin of its wings, and the green scales flashed an iridescent purple.

  
“I got it!”

  
The rest looked at him expectantly. 

  
“Grape! Because it’s green sometimes and purple other times! And grapes can be purple or green!” 

  
A collective groan echoed from his companions, but Kai had already made up his mind.

  
“Hi, Grape!” He said to the dragon, who huffed in return. “See! Grape likes its name!” No one had the heart to tell Kai the name was no better than any of the other suggestions they had decided against. Besides, it was his dragon, after all.

  
“So, we have to be at The Crystal Ball by midnight. And its just past noon. What should we do till then?” Soobin asked.

  
Both Beomgyu and Yeonjun felt a cold shiver at the mention of the club but ignored it as they had earlier. It wasn’t time yet. 

  
“Wanna see the city?” Yeonjun proposed.

  
“What about Grape?” Taehyun asked. Grape perked up at the mention of its name, apparently a quick learner. 

  
Beomgyu chimed in, “It’s New Orleans, I promise that won’t be the weirdest thing they see today.”

  
So that’s exactly what they did. Beomgyu and Yeonjun showed them around the city, but not any of the tourist spots. They showed them the city as the locals knew it, all the secret hideaways and back alleys. Places you would only know if your love for this city was so strong it seeped from your heart down to the marrow of your bones. Soobin, Taehyun, and Kai were in awe of everything they saw. They had been staying in the city for a few days but had yet to see anything except for the garage they were keeping Grape in. 

  
Despite the happiness of the day, Kai couldn’t help the bitter feeling that tainted everything they did. After tonight, they would no longer have Grape. Sure, that would solve a lot of their problems, but that didn’t mean he was ready to say goodbye. He knew it was the right thing to do. He could not care for Grape the way that Grape needed and keeping the dragon just because he would’ve missed it was selfish and irresponsible. 

  
No one else was weighed down by these worries, and the day passed all too quickly for the five new friends. As the sky darkened and the street lights lit up the night, they decided it was time to head to the Crystal Ball. Kai had to pull on Grape’s leash with all of his strength for the beast to follow them as if it too was not ready for the day to be over. 

  
As they approached the club, Beomgyu and Yeonjun could no longer ignore the anxiety they had felt all day. And they could no longer keep it to themselves.

  
“Guys,” Yeonjun started, “there’s something we should tell you about The Crystal Ball.” 

  
There was a stark shift in mood among the boys.

  
“It’s a place that a lot of people avoid. Like, go out of their way to avoid,” Beomgyu continued. “The people that do go there are… unsavory. You see, this place started out a long time ago as an underground way for people interested in magic and tarot and things like that to get together. It was very harmless. But now… not only is it more of a club,” he paused, allowing the thumping sound of the music to spill out and prove his point. “But also, it’s gotten much more extreme.”

  
“Extreme how?” Taehyun asked, concern etched into his normally soft features.

  
Yeonjun sighed, picking up where Beomgyu left off. “Well, initially, it was a place for hobbyists; people who enjoyed learning and talking about magic but didn’t take it too seriously. But now, everyone there truly believes that magic is real. That wouldn’t be a problem, but they’re into dark magic. Like human sacrifice shit. It’s a scary place.” 

  
“But there’s five of us, so they can’t hurt us. Strength in numbers, right?” Kai’s voice hiccuped despite the confidence in his words. As he spoke, he began tying Grape’s leash to a bike rack nearby the entrance of the club. He didn’t know how long it would hold, but he felt better doing something than just standing there.

  
“Yeah, we should be fine,” Yeonjun tried to assure them, “I just thought you should know what you’re going into.” 

  
With that note of warning fresh and heavy on their minds, the five boys stepped through the hulking double doors of The Crystal Ball. 

  
Immediately, the heavy, bitter scent of alcohol hit them. Though midnight was fairly early in the night for a club like this, it was clear the drinks had been flowing for hours already. And they could tell the place was old. It looked worn down in a way that the owners might call “rustic,” but everyone else would call “falling apart.” The lights were dim, but they couldn’t tell if that was by design or because the bulbs hadn’t been changed in years. There was a series of rotting wooden picnic tables surrounding an open area that acted as a dance floor. Both areas were packed with people. The boys did their best to avoid eye contact with anyone at the tables. And they tried not to look too long at what those people were doing. 

  
“What does this guy look like?” Yeonjun asked the dragon trio. 

  
“We don’t know. He said he’d come up to us. That we would stick out.” Taehyun said, and they all looked each other up and down. They did stick out. They looked too bright, too clean, too innocent, for this dark, wrong place. And sure enough, after only a few minutes of standing around awkwardly by the entrance, they were approached by a short, round white man with a patchy beard and a mix of yellow and silver teeth. 

  
“So, you the ones who got a dragon problem?” He asked, and the stench of whiskey on his breath was so strong that Yeonjun felt like he could get drunk off the fumes. 

  
None of them could muster the courage to form words, so they all nodded.

  
“Well! What are we doing standing around? Take me to him!” He clapped his big hands together, and the boys collectively flinched. 

  
Soobin cleared his throat, “Um, follow us, I guess. It’s right outside.” 

  
They filed out through the front door, the boys clinging to each other to distance themselves from the strange man. When they stepped out into the street, Kai was relieved to see that the leash had held and that Grape was precisely where he had left it. The dragon seemed to smile at the sight of the boys, or it at least bared its teeth in a non-threatening way that they interpreted as a smile. However, its expression changed once it laid eyes on the man trailing them. Grape spat out a line of flame in the man’s direction. 

  
“Whoa! A feisty one! I like that!” The man walked right up to Grape and clamped his hand around its jaw. 

  
“What are you doing?” Kai exclaimed.

  
“Oh, son, I’m just inspecting him, standard procedure.” The man returned his focus to his task. He jerked Grape’s head around roughly, and Taehyun thought he heard the animal let out a whine. The man moved down to inspect Grape’s back, running a finger along the spikes on its spine. He then stared intently at the dragon’s mass of scales and, without warning, yanked one out. This time Taehyun was sure he heard a yelp. “Ah, yes, he’ll work perfectly.”

  
Though he was afraid to know the answer, Beomgyu asked, “Work for what?”

  
The smile Beomgyu received in response was unsettling. “His scales will be the perfect last ingredient for the potion I’m working on. Though, it is such a shame that a magnificent creature like this will have to die. But I’m afraid my need is much too great.”

  
It took a moment for the words to settle over the boys. The full weight was hard to process, and their brains wanted to reject the information if only to protect them. 

  
Kai, a fierce defender of his new friend, was the first to speak. “No.”

“What?”

  
“We won’t let you do that.” Kai stood his ground. 

  
Soon, Taehyun backed him up. Then Beomgyu. And Yeonjun. And Soobin. 

  
“Sorry, boys, but we had a deal.” To punctuate his point, the man pulled out a long blade. 

  
Thinking fast, Kai undid the knot holding back Grape. And the dragon, at the sight of seeing its friends in danger, knew exactly what to do. Grape opened its massive mouth and unleashed an eruption of fire unlike Taehyun, Soobin, and Kai had ever seen the creature do before. The man, still standing dangerously close to Grape for his inspection, received a faceful of hot flames. He screamed in pain as his clothes caught fire and his beard started to singe. Kai grabbed Grape’s leash, and the five of them took off at a sprint, Beomgyu leading them again like he had just this morning. 

  
They ran and ran and ran. They ran until they couldn’t smell the burnt hair or hear the music emitting from any nearby clubs. They ran until they couldn’t anymore. They came to a stop, crashing into each other after Beomgyu stopped unexpectedly. A sort of domino effect occurred, leaving Beomgyu standing and the other four and one clumsy dragon on the ground. One by one, Beomgyu helped them all up, and as they all looked at each other, even after what they just experienced, they smiled. 

  
So, despite their plan going awry, the five boys were still smiling. Giggling even, especially when Grape huffed a smoke ring in Yeonjun’s face, whom the dragon had apparently changed its opinion on. They still didn’t know what they would do with their scaly friend, but all of a sudden, Grape felt as much a part of their little band of misfits as any of them did. Soobin marveled at the idea that this morning they were just two boys going to a cafe and three boys with a dragon, and now they were… Well, he didn’t know what they were, but he was happy to be apart of it. It was after midnight, and it felt not only like a new day but a new start. So, hand in hand (or leash in hand for Kai), they walked into the new tomorrow, together.


End file.
